Viewing movies on TV though hard drive

[mdnelson]

I have an older plasma TV that does have a USB port (not HDD).
I would like to store videos and photos on an external hard drive and then play them through the TV.

Do I need to format the drive in a particular manner?
Can I load them to the drive from my Mac?

 

[johnhill]

What model of TV do you have? Which ports does your Ext HDD have? You might try HDMI or USB( in case you ext hdd has it)

 

[captaincharisma]

hard to know with the lack of info you have given. but it depends on what ports your TV has. if it does have a USB port then you may have the option to connect an external HDD or USB drive to it depending on what kind of video and picture formats it supports. if it does not have any media features or even a USB port then the only way would be to connect your computer to your TV via a HDMI or VGA port and do everything like that from it

 

[mdnelson]

What model of TV do you have? Which ports does your Ext HDD have? You might try HDMI or USB( in case you ext hdd has it)

It's a Panasonic but I am not sure of the model right now. I don't have the hard drive yet so I can get one with an hdmi if that is easier

 

[ikaz]

yeah really need information on your TV sometime those "USB" ports are actually service ports and can't be used with a normal usb drive. List your TV information and we maybe to see if you have smart TV if not your not going to be able to play movies off of a USD drive. You may need to go with a Media hub via HDMI and use that to play the movies.

 

[mdnelson]

yeah really need information on your TV sometime those "USB" ports are actually service ports and can't be used with a normal usb drive. List your TV information and we maybe to see if you have smart TV if not your not going to be able to play movies off of a USD drive. You may need to go with a Media hub via HDMI and use that to play the movies.

Ok. Sorry it's actually a pioneer pdp-4280hd

 

[captaincharisma]

yeah really need information on your TV sometime those "USB" ports are actually service ports and can't be used with a normal usb drive. List your TV information and we maybe to see if you have smart TV if not your not going to be able to play movies off of a USD drive. You may need to go with a Media hub via HDMI and use that to play the movies.

Ok. Sorry it's actually a pioneer pdp-4280hd

that does sound like a pretty old TV but from pioneers website it seems to have a USB port. here is a link to the product page where you can download the manual

http/www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Plasma/PDP-4280HD

 

[ikaz]

ok it looks like you can only view pictures on your TV so if you have usb drive with formatted with Fat you can look at jpeg pictures (http/www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Plasma/PDP-4280HD#VideoProcessingTechnology page 70 on the manual). You will need to look into get Roku type device.

 

[jsmithepa]

MANUAL IS GODSPEL.

Manuals says: USB port for Flash drive to display pictures, wants FAT, FAT16, FAT32, vFAT formatting.

I suggest before you get all excited, load up a flash drive formatted as above with a one of each mp4, avi, wvm, mpg, mov, mkv see how the TV responds.

If you don't already know, USB port in a TV is not quite the same USB port in a PC. USB ports in a TV is limited function interface.

 

[mdnelson]

yeah really need information on your TV sometime those "USB" ports are actually service ports and can't be used with a normal usb drive. List your TV information and we maybe to see if you have smart TV if not your not going to be able to play movies off of a USD drive. You may need to go with a Media hub via HDMI and use that to play the movies.

Ok. Sorry it's actually a pioneer pdp-4280hd

that does sound like a pretty old TV but from pioneers website it seems to have a USB port. here is a link to the product page where you can download the manual

http/www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Plasma/PDP-4280HD

So the USB only supports photos. Could you suggest another way to view videos stored on an external drive

 

[The Paladin]

something like this device I use on LED TC that isn't got smart options like yours
http/shop.panasonic.com/support-only/DMP-MST60.html
that connects to TV, and WIFI, and permits to access my NAS drives for photos, music, movies.
of course depending where you are in the world this maybe not be a available product.

 

[ikaz]

Look up Roku, Amazon Fire stick, or even a Android media box running Kodi or if you have a tablet or old phone with HMDI out (may need a mini/micro to hdmi cable) and you can use that.